No, you hang up!

Good Friday to You,

One of my favorite early dating memories is being on the phone with Carol Ann. Though people didn’t refer to “talking” as a pre-dating stage back then, we spent hours talking on the phone before we officially began dating.

Carol Ann was in her bedroom at her parents’ house. I was in my bedroom in the basement of my parents’ house. Seeking privacy for our conversations, we stretched the cords from the phones hanging on the wall into our respective bedrooms. Those all-hours talks continued once we began dating… and then took place throughout our dating and engagement phases.

Those conversations were special. They played an instrumental role in us learning each other’s hearts, beliefs, spirits, dreams, and passions. They helped us fall in love.

I remember the, “I love you…I love you more….No, I love you more…I love you the most!” And the, “You hang up…No you hang up…(Silence)…I can hear you…you hang up!” And on and on.

My, how phone technology has changed since then.

It’s funny to think about those conversations, realizing….

We were limited by the length of the stretchable phone cord.

If someone tried to call while we were on the phone, they got a busy signal.

We never called each other from any location other than our parents’ houses.

We didn’t send each other a SINGLE emoji or gif.

We didn’t send each other a SINGLE text…ever.

As special as those conversations were for us, imagine how ludicrous it would be to use our cell phones as if the old “rules” were still in play! For instance, only calling each other from our bedroom. Weird! Never a text, emoji, or gif. Triple weird!

This is Better

This week, we continue our This is Better series as together we discover the reality of Jesus’ promise that having the Spirit inside us is better than having Him beside us.

Attempting to follow Jesus and obey God devoid of the person and work of the Spirit is even more ludicrous than acting like our cell phones have to be plugged into a wall to have conversations. There is so much more available to us.

Some of the key questions we will be answering:

Is choosing to get my life straightened out the same as living by the Spirit?

How do I know when I have had a successful season of being Spirit-led?

How can I pursue a Spirit-filled season (before it is over and too late to change anything)?

Some of my friends talk about a second filling of the Spirit…do I need that?

You can get a head start by reading Galatians 5:16-26. Even better, set aside about 45 minutes between now and worship this weekend to read Galatians. Yup…the entire book! It is a letter – and letters are written to be read as a whole. Just think, when was the last time you read an entire book of the Bible in one sitting?